If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

21 month old still wakes up once a night

My 21 month old daughter still frequently wakes up once during the night. It has gotten better since we started a routine of her putting her own doll to sleep but she still wakes up and needs to be cuddled to sleep. I know that many will suggest sleep training but it doesn't work on my daughter because of her throwing up if she cries too much. Both of my kids have such a bad gag reflex that if they get too upset they throw up. It isn't pretty.

The last few nights have been much better with her finally falling asleep at 9pm and only waking at 6am because she was wet. I'm hoping this lasts but usually her wake up time is around 2am and she isn't up long. She just want to be hugged and will fall back asleep.

I'm just hoping she can sleep straight through the night before our 3rd baby comes

Unfortunately, it is pretty common for 21 month old babies to wake up in the night. The doll sleep routine is a good idea. Like many things, learning to sleep through the night and self-soothe is something that just happens randomly for most children, with every individual child being quite different.

I would never recommend sleep training and I am fairly sure most of the women in this forum are along the same lines of thinking. Most of my children began sleeping through the night right around their second birthday, so you may very well be on the cusp of a breakthrough.

Just keep doing what you are doing and hope for the best! Since she seems to be waking early due to a wet diaper, you may want to try reducing what she is getting to drink in the hours immediately prior to bedtime. If she is still falling asleep with a bottle or at the breast, that is the habit I would work on breaking, rather than leaving her to cry out. Slowly decrease what is in the bottle or change it to the dentist-recommended water bottle at night. If she is breastfed before bed, try having dad or another caregiver do the honors, so she stops associating sleep with milk.

She does have a bad habit with having a bedtime bottle so we're going to try and change that up now so she doesn't relate the two together (sleep with bottle). Dad is going to try and do the bedtime routine tonight and see how it goes.

I have the same problem with my daughter (22 months). I have already given her just water in the bottle, when she wakes up in the night and I would say that's helpful. Sometimes she sleeps all night and that's the only thing I want. Also, I had a problem with temperature in our bedroom, so try to manage it on the most suitable one, especially because the babies are always hotter than we are. So pay a tension on that. Good luck.

It is quite normal for a two year old to not sleep through the night. However, 'sleep training' books and websites would often have us believe otherwise.

As new parents, the most frequently asked question seems to be 'how is he/she sleeping' or 'how are the nights' or perhaps 'is he/ she sleeping through yet'. This despite the fact that babies are not meant to sleep through the night - they need to wake frequently for feeding and comfort. And so, as a baby becomes a toddler neither must they or will they immediately start sleeping through. For many who do not use strict sleep training this is a gradual process. Often, at some time between a child's second and third birthday parents will find that their toddler is sleeping at night without needing their comfort.

Even as adults, we actually wake many times during the night - we just do not remember it in the morning. Toddlers, and babies, can gradually learn to settle themselves after these wakenings. The No Cry Sleep Solution explains gentle ways to help your baby to settle themselves back to sleep. Having a bedtime routine also helps toddlers to sleep better, as does making sure they are eating well and getting lots of exercise and stimulation.

Finally I'd like to add that, as a parent of a two and a half year old who has just started sleeping at night without needing us to go to him, it will happen! When it does, it's wonderful to have memories of happy nights comforting your child.